Crime & Safety

Police: Contractor Bilked Darien Homeowner

A Stamford home-improvement contractor received money from a Darien homeowner for a project but didn't complete it and didn't pay subcontractors, Darien police said.

The Stamford owner of a home-improvement company bilked a Darien homeowner out of $28,000 and a subcontractor out of $38,000, along with other subcontractors, say Darien police, who arrested him.

Police, who began investigating the matter in January 2011, gave this account what happened in a news release issued by Detective Mark Cappelli:

Ralph Darinzo, 49, the owner of Ralph Darinzo Construction, was hired to make improvements on a Darien home and had been paid up front by the homeowner for the initial cost of the project.

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As the project continued, Darinzo asked the homeowner for more money at various times, and received it, to pay subcontractors doing work on the home.

But the contractor failed to perform some of the work and didn't pay the subcontractors.

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Darinzo, of Long Ridge Road, Stamford, was charged with two counts of first-degree larceny. He also was arrested Feb. 8 in Stamford on similar charges. He was released on a $50,000 bond and is scheduled to appear Feb. 22 in state Superior Court in Stamford.


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